Angular Momentum Conservation for Coherently Manipulated Spin Polarization in Photoexcited NiO: An Ab Initio Calculation

In an ultrafast laser-induced magnetization-dynamics scenario we demonstrate for the first time an exact microscopic spin-switch mechanism. Combining ab initio electronic many-body theory and quantum optics analysis we show in detail how the coherently induced material polarization for every elementary process leads to angular-momentum exchange between the light and the irradiated antiferromagnetic NiO. Thus we answer the long-standing question where the angular momentum goes. The calculation also predicts a dynamic Kerr effect, which provides a signature for monitoring spin dynamics, by simply measuring the transient rotation and ellipticity of the reflected light.